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Ultramarines
The Ultrmarines are a formerly Loyalist First Founding Space Marine Legion that broke away from the Imperium of Man during the latter years of the 30th Millennium and formed their own separate empire known as the Ultramar Segmentum. Manipulated and betrayed first by the Traitor Legions, and then by the Imperium, the Ultramarines now stand defiantly against both great powers. From their fortified realm of Ultramar Segmentum, the legion and its successor chapters watch with pity as the Imperium falls ever-deeper into superstition, ignorance and corruption. Built firmly upon the inspired organisational principles of Roboute Guilliman, they patiently gather their strength for the day they will invade Terra and re-unify humanity under their own benign rule. Legion History The War-Born The XIIIth Legion's origin lay, as with their fellows, on Terra and the closing years of the Unification Wars. Extant records from this time show the XIIIth Legion's "Alpha" intake -- the test bed raising of several thousand warriors by which its gene-seed's stability and adaptability was judged -- was passed firmly within acceptable parameters and with no singular or notable physical mutation beyond the expected pattern, with full functionality of implanted organs to projected specifications. Psycho-organically, Initiates were noted to display increased aggression, as was expected, but also a marked tendency towards cohesion and the adoption of hierarchy, alongside an almost pathological dedication to the achievement of an assigned goal, particularly when compared against the psychological profiles of certain other alpha samples such as those of the XIIth and Vth Legions (later known as the World Eaters and White Scars, respectively), who demonstrated more markedly heightened individualistic and fractious tendencies post-implantation. Although much of what would then transpire for the XIIIth Legion's very early expansion past its test stage has been occluded by layers of the unbreachable secrecy inherent in much of the Emperor's gene-work, and records lost in the destruction caused on Terra during the great siege during the Battle of Terra, certain facts can still be pieced together and a hypothesis formed. In terms of recruitment, evidence is apparent for a net being cast across Terra for Initiates for the XIIIth, with intake from areas as diverse as the sub-equatorial maglev clans of Panpocro, the war families of the Saragon Enclave, the proud Midafrik Hive Oligarchy and, most latterly, the anthropophagic tribes of the Caucasus Wastes. As varied in culture and origin as these groups were, they all had one factor in common; their violent and often bitter resistance to the later stages of Unification, a resistance broken ultimately in each case not by negotiated surrender but near annihilation, with, in some situations, little remaining save interned refugees and orphaned populations left by the savage conflicts which had brought these peoples to heel. It was this which led to the first informal cognomen by which the XIIIth Legion was known by the forces alongside which they served -- the War-born. It may then be theorised that the particular psychological effects of the XIIIth Legion's gene-seed may have been used deliberately as a final weapon of the Unification to bleed away potential rebellion on Terra, and also further absorb the strength of the savage tribes of Old Night into the fledging Imperium. Further evidence for this can be perhaps inferred by the fact that no evidence remains of the XIIIth Legion seeing active deployment on Terra itself during the Unification Wars' bitter dregs -- as both the VIIth and VIIIth Legions' (later known as the Imperial Fists and Night Lords) early incarnations were, for example -- with their first full battle honours recorded as being for the First Pacification of Luna, and the brutal Sedna Campaign at the edge of the Sol System. As the earliest phase of the Great Crusade, the liberation of the Segmentum Solar, progressed, it was discovered that this ancient and most heavily settled region of the first stellar domains of humanity held many survivors from the Dark Age of Technology. Of these there were some who openly welcomed the Imperium as patron and protector, but there were also many worlds who resisted Imperial Compliance, either through ignorance or prideful assurance in their own strength, just as there were others who were enslaved under the yoke of xenos oppression. The tide of conquest however, with the Emperor at the head of the war effort, quickly gained rapid momentum, and the fledging Space Marine Legions undergoing their first great expansion were a key part of this. During this period the XIIIth, then around 8,000 strong, began to make its mark by taking part alongside other Legions under the Emperor's direct generalship, gaining renown in notable campaigns such as the Liberation of Diurnus and the destruction of the Scorvidian xeno-empire, as well as amassing a string of successful Compliance actions in solo operations on planets such as Lorin Sigma, Sekel's Landing and Ne'deble. From each of these conquered human worlds, the most militant factions provided additional intakes of recruits tithed for the XIIIth, much as the war-born sons of Terra had infused their first intake. It was during this early period of the Great Crusade that the genius of the Emperor's grand design for His Space Marine Legions became increasingly apparent. While each of his superhuman cadres proved itself able to fight on any battlefield and achieve victory, the Emperor had clearly patterned in the alchemical mix of His sons a diversity of tempers and abilities that had given each Legion a strength or suitability to a theatre of war of its own beyond that of its peers. In the XIIIth Legion was found a mixture of aggression and restraint, discipline and determination which rendered them supremely suited for joint taskforce operations and cross-theatre warfare. The Legion also gained significant success in independence operations where it took direct command of secondary support forces of the Imperialis Auxilia, whether the professional and elite regiments of the Solar Auxilia and the regiments of the "Old One Hundred", or the often resentful and fractious hosts of Imperialis Militia auxiliary recently forced into Compliance. In the latter case, the XIIIth Legion often detached cadres of its own warriors to act as provosts and disciplinarians if needed, handing out final justice to the recalcitrant and inspiring bravery from the front lines; duties at which many other Legions baulked at as beneath their honour or as a poor use of Legiones Astartes in battle. In their adaptability and range of operations, they were said to be reminiscent of the vaunted Ist Legion (Dark Angels) and the prominent Luna Wolves on whose glory and accomplishments, since that Legion's early restoration of its Primarch, much has already been made. The key to their fighting style was imitation and adaptation. Their own arts of war had evolved quickly from the tenets laid out during their indoctrination and training, becoming combined with influences drawn from the host of martial cultures from which they were founded and the other Legions alongside which they served, from the knife-craft of the Opaki gangs of Hive Kôr to the armoured warfare tactics of the Xth Legion (Iron Hands). By the third decade of the Great Crusade, the XIIIth Legion had begun to develop a distinct character of their own. They were recorded as having a practical and forthright mien, with little time given to the esoteric arts of warfare or conjectural strategising, preferring a direct approach of swift engagement. In warfare, they relied upon the rapid attainment of quickly defined tactical objectives and strategies born of tried and tested battlefield experience and determined by the situation at hand. They also had their pride, and while they were accorded as being unwaveringly loyal to the Imperium's cause, they developed a tendency to guard their honour well and engaged in an open rivalry of achievement with the other Legions alongside which they served, particularly those few whose Primarchs had already been recovered. The warrior brotherhood of the XIIIth had also, in recent years, begun to display its achievement visually. But rather than take on a particular livery and iconography as whole as the IIIrd (Emperor's Children) or the XIVth Legion (at that time still the Dusk Raiders) had, individual companies who had come to prominence in a particularly important Compliance operation or campaign took on additions to their core Legion livery -- which maintained the post-Unification storm grey and gunmetal they had worn since Sedna -- to commemorate their greatest achievements. Such honours were claimed as the Legion's strength made visible, but for them no formal name for the Legion as a whole was desired save for its number, as their first Lord Commander Gren Vosotho is recorded to have said, "...I am told that once the numeral thirteenth was taken as an ill omen by the weak minded and those enslaved by the lies of superstition, but in the Emperor's service we shall make it a byword for redemption and glory." The Son of Macragge Although it is commonly stated within the Imperium that the infant primarchs were abducted and scattered across the galaxy by the Ruinous Powers, the tale of Roboute Guilliman's arrival upon Macragge has led the people of Ultramar to doubt the received wisdom. According to legend, Consul Konor Guilliman, one of Macragge‟s planetary leaders, was granted a vision of a noble child alone in the deep forest, and that a shining entity, supposed later to be the Emperor Himself, commanded Konor to guide and protect him. In the shadow of the mighty Hera Falls, the infant was found playing amongst the wreckage of his gestation vessel, and sensing the power within the boy, Konor did as he had been instructed. He named the child Roboute, or 'The Great One', and raised him as his own son. Imperial scholars claim that this was simply the Emperor seeking to protect His sons until they could finally be reunited. However, the Ultramarines believe that the Master of Mankind deliberately engineered the dispersal so that the primarchs would be able to experience life among common humanity in their formative years. Furthermore, they propose that Guilliman was intended to be found and mentored by Konor in his unique style of leadership and organisation. As befitting the son of a consul, Roboute Guilliman was intensively tutored, and rapidly absorbed every scrap of knowledge on offer, before taking his place at the prestigious Agiselus Barracks in Macragge City. There he was trained in the military arts, and in short order outstripped his fellow students and even his instructors. With nothing left to learn, he graduated, and re-took his place alongside Konor. It was clear that Guilliman's gifts for the practice and organisation of warfare would be of great use in battling Macragge's enemies, both on and off the planet. Proving that their faith in him was not misplaced, Guilliman delivered an unbroken series of military victories. This culminated with the complete destruction of the pirate fleets that had long-plagued the space-lanes between Macragge and the nearby systems with which it had remained in contact. At a banquet held in honour of Guilliman's achievements, Konor's co-consul, Gallan, proposed that an ancient Macragge tradition be re-instituted: after performing some great deed for the nation, a feted hero would be rewarded with the opportunity to carve out territory of their own. What new lands they could conquer for the kingdom, they could keep. Gallan proposed that Illyrium, Macragge's wild, bandit-haunted northlands, would be the perfect challenge and reward. Its savage barbarian tribes had never been pacified, and although they attacked the expedition with unparalleled fury, within six months Guilliman had bested each of the tribal leaders in single combat and earned their respect and fealty. The conclusion of this stunningly successful campaign was tainted by the news that Konor had passed away, and that as sole remaining consul, Gallan had taken command of his holdings. Gallan sent his condolences, but also commanded that Guilliman and his forces leave Illyrium at once to swear allegiance to him. Guilliman returned as requested, but was horrified to see the state of disrepair that his adopted father‟s former lands had fallen into in the few short months of its new consul‟s stewardship. So it was that when he stood before Gallan, he defiantly refused to kneel. Before the assembled nobles he stated in no uncertain terms that Gallan was not the only consul; that before them stood the Consul of Illyrium, as laid down in the ancient traditions Gallan himself had invoked. Gallan had no more hold over him than the stars themselves. With that, Guilliman returned to the north at the head of his large, battle-tempered army, and after such a display of martial strength, no more talk of fealty was heard from Gallan. Free from the restraints of tradition, Guilliman forged his own vision of civilisation. Within a decade the once barren wastes of Illyrium were home to industries and military forces that put those of the rest of the planet to shame. By the time the Emperor arrived at Macragge, drawn by tales of the nation that Guilliman had wrought, Illyrium was firmly the centre of political and military power. In comparison, Gallan's stagnant holdings were a mere backwater. The reunion of father and son, and the relocation of the XIIIth Legion of the Legiones Astartes to the planet merely reinforced Guilliman's position as the true leader of Macragge. Ultramar Segmentum Roboute Guilliman set his legion, which he renamed the Ultramarines after the deep blue seas of Macragge, to work reclaiming lost human worlds for the Emperor. First came the planets with which Macragge had remained in contact through their isolation from Terra, such as Talassar, Calth, Quintarn and Tarentus. The incorporation of these early planets became the template for the future. The legion went to great lengths to avoid unnecessary civilian bloodshed, even at the risk of sustaining greater casualties themselves. This, along with the way they repaired and improved each world's infrastructure, meant that with every conquest they gained a stable world willing and eager to contribute to Guilliman's mission, rather than a resentful population that required garrison forces to pacify. In this way the Ultramarines were able to draw recruits and materiel from an ever-larger area, and in doing so expanded their numbers at a rate unmatched by any other legion. The worlds under their control became closely knit, with an identity as much Ultramarine as it was Imperial. With each new world, these Ultramar planets grew in military strength and cultural influence. Often their reputation would precede them to such a degree that invading forces would be welcomed on their arrival by cheering crowds rather than armed resistance. Eventually their expansion reached so far that it came into contact with worlds brought to compliance by other Imperial expeditions. Recognising the superior way that Ultramar was run in comparison to the staid, inefficient Administratum, an increasing number quietly petitioned to join them. There were even calls from some planets on the Eastern Fringe to rename Ultima Segmentum as Ultramar Segmentum. This led to bitter exchanges between the Administratum and the Ultramarines. The legion was charged with instigating these petitions and of undermining the Imperium. This was strenuously denied, but the defiant Ultramarine representatives said that they would continue to lend their expertise to those Imperial planets that requested it. The war of words escalated to the point where, at the Jhalta conference, high ranking Administratum officials accused the Ultramarines of attempting to take control of Imperial worlds by stealth. During one particularly heated exchange, a member of the Administratum even dared suggest that they had turned their backs on the Emperor. With the meeting seconds from descending into violence, Guilliman himself entered the room. His superhuman charisma and presence calmed the tense situation, and by the end of the conference the Administratum representatives had accepted the primarch's intentions as benign. Many were even discussing organisational theories with him and taking notes. It appeared that the misunderstanding had been resolved. Istvaan V With the Administratum seemingly pacified, Guilliman was shocked and horrified to receive a covert communiqué from Rogal Dorn, who brought a warning that the Emperor had personally ordered that he and the entire Ultramarines Legion be put to death. Despite the unthinkable nature of what Dorn was saying, the haggard, haunted look in his brother's eyes convinced Guilliman to hear him out. According to Dorn, since the Emperor had withdrawn to Terra, He had become increasingly isolated, and this had been played upon and twisted by sinister forces so that He had refused to see even His own sons. Dorn said that behind closed doors the misunderstandings with the Administratum had been manipulated to the point where their father had become convinced Guilliman was on the brink of seceding from the Imperium. The situation had spiralled out of control, and in a fit of rage, the Emperor had commanded that a vast battle fleet be assembled to tear down Ultramar Segmentum. Dorn said that when disquiet was voiced at the prospect of brother marines, indeed brother primarchs, trying to kill one another, the Emperor had decreed that anyone who opposed the order be declared a traitor and be put to death. And so it was that Dorn came to approach the fringes of Ultramar Segmentum in command of the Imperial fleet. The Emperor's mind, he said, had been clouded by lies and paranoia, and while Dorn had been able to convince several of the primarchs over the course of the journey, Corax, Fulgrim and Angron had been beyond reason. As repugnant as it was, Dorn proposed that their legions could be 'neutralised' by ambushing them at the newly compliant Ultramar world of Istvaan V. Dorn also revealed that the Word Bearers and the Alpha Legion had been ordered to strike deep into the heart of Ultramar Segmentum. To seal the pact, Dorn transmitted to Guilliman the projected routes of the Alpha Legion and Word Bearer fleets so that they could be more easily tracked, and eventually countered. Seeing no other option, with a heavy heart Guilliman agreed to Dorn's plan. His legion, supported by those that Dorn had been able to convince of the Emperor's folly, crushed the Raven Guard, Emperor's Children and World Eaters on Istvaan V. With knowledge of their transponder codes, the Ultramarines were able to target the landing ships and drop pods before most of their occupants could even set foot on the planet. The few that survived fought like lions, and while they were no match for the forces arrayed against them, a handful still managed to escape back into orbit, carrying with them word of the rebellion. Dorn and his legions prepared to leave Istvaan, but before they departed the two brothers met one last time. Guilliman offered the renegade legions asylum within Ultramar Segmentum. Dorn thanked him for the offer, but said that he had to return to Terra to explain his actions to the Emperor. Dorn warned that those manipulating their father were experts in the arts of twisting the truth, and the same people who had whispered falsehoods against the Ultramarines would doubtless begin to spread their black propaganda against Dorn and his comrades in the months to come. Whatever news might reach them, Dorn urged Guilliman to remember their friendship, and to trust in him. With that, Guilliman bade them farewell and good luck. As much as he desired to return to Terra and help free his father from the malign forces that surrounded Him, Ultramar was still under attack from two full legions of Astartes. Every marine, indeed, every citizen of Ultramar Segmentum, would be needed to defeat them. Fortress Ultramar Ultramar mobilised to defend itself, with travel, trade and communication cut off with the Imperium. What news did leak in told of all-out civil war, and as Dorn had predicted, his forces were portrayed in lurid terms. They were accused of having perpetrated acts of gross excess, torture and genocide. There were even fanciful stories of sorcery, magicks and daemons, which only reinforced their belief of the desperation of Dorn's enemies. Within their own borders, the fleets of the Word Bearers headed arrow-straight for the heart of Ultramar Segmentum. Thanks to Dorn's warning, the Ultramarines were able to assemble sufficient forces to intercept their ships before they reached Macragge. Denied their primary target, Lorgar's fleet turned its fire on any planet they could find. They seeded Calth's star with arcane minerals that quenched its celestial fire and plunged the planet into eternal, icy night. Quintarn fared little better. With the zealots' threat of Exterminatus hanging over them, the entire population were forced to pluck out their eyes. Even to this day, Quintarn is known as the 'World of the Blind'. What Lorgar's legion lacked in tactics it more than made up for with religious fury and a fanatical determination never to give up, whatever the cost. They did horrendous damage, and the Ultramarines had to expend great effort simply to prevent the Word Bearers from massacring entire civilian populations. The Alpha Legion's approach to warfare was radically different, yet just as deadly. Where Lorgar's assault was a battering ram, destroying all in its path, Alpharius was a debilitating poison that spread insidiously through Ultramar Segmentum. The enemy were seemingly everywhere, disrupting the command structures of each world they touched through assassination, disinformation, terrorism and sabotage. Worse, they were like ghosts: working through networks of human agents and maddeningly difficult to bring to the field of battle. In any realm other than Ultramar such an approach would have caused widespread paralysis and thrown every world into selfish isolationism, but Guilliman's organisational teachings saw them weather the worst of the storm. Eventually, Guilliman ran Alpharius to ground on the world of Eskrador. To throw his brother primarch off-balance, Guilliman forewent his usual tactical caution and instead attempted to beat Alpharius at his own game. Taking the enemy by surprise, Guilliman's force hit them from multiple directions at once, overwhelming them and cutting off all chance of escape. With no other option, the cornered Alpha Legion had no choice but to engage in a conventional battle, and though they fought fiercely, they could not stand against the Ultramarines. After a duel that seemed to last for hours, Roboute Guilliman finally executed Alpharius for his crimes at the foot of the Amanthi cliffs. Rather than being a catharsis, Eskrador proved to be a pyrrhic victory for the Ultramarines. Many great heroes of Ultramar, such as Captain Orar and Lord Kharta, Regent of Talassar, died to achieve it, yet the loss of their primarch did not stop, or even significantly slow the insurrectionist cancer the Alpha Legion had spread throughout the segmentum. Better news came when the Word Bearers broke off their attacks on Ultramar's core worlds and set course back towards the Imperium. It seemed that the zealots' will to fight had been broken. In time it became clear that this had been sparked by the death of the Emperor, although it seemed that Dorn and his side of the civil war had also been defeated. Despite all that had happened, Guilliman still grieved for his father, but he knew that this was merely a pause in the larger conflict. Wounded and bleeding though the Imperium was, it was only a matter of time before their vengeful gaze turned back towards them. War production was redoubled, and a metaphorical "Curtain of Steel" was thrown around the Ultramar Segmentum. For decades the only contact they had with Imperial forces was in the form of the insidious insurrections and guerrilla actions inspired by the Alpha Legion, and some dared to hope that they would be left largely in peace. Guilliman, though, remained adamant that they must stay vigilant. He was proven right when the hammer-blow came in the form of massed Imperial crusades. Through meticulous planning, skill and bravery they turned aside every attack. The death-toll was horrendous, with whole planetary populations lost in the fighting, but Ultramar, as ever, endured. Seeing the rise in corruption and ineffectiveness of the Imperium after the Emperor's death, Guilliman refined and codified his thoughts in his organisational masterpiece, the Codex Ultramar. As well as laying down how civilian authorities should be structured, it also decreed that his own legion be sub-divided into more self-sufficient units to cover the vast areas of space under their protection. The grand companies were reorganised and renamed as chapters of the wider Ultramarines Legion, with chapter masters given far greater autonomy. In this way, Guilliman created a structure that was tied closely to the worlds they protected, but was still able to call upon the rest of Ultramar when faced with overwhelming threats like Imperial crusades. This was put to the test when they came under attack from hideously perverted forms of marines bearing the insignia of the legions they had fought alongside at Istvaan. It was accompanied by an explosion in the number of bizarre and brutal cults within their borders. Although this was initially attributed to a new ploy by the Alpha Legion, it soon became clear that it was something far more dangerous, as the full, hideous nature of the Warp was belatedly uncovered by the legion's librarians. As though the reality of daemonic possession, the existence of the Ruinous Powers and their ability to corrupt even Astartes was not shocking enough, it also brought the sickening realisation of how Dorn had manipulated them, and their view of the civil war. It became horribly clear that the fanciful tales from beyond the Imperial borders – tales that had been dismissed as nothing more than black propaganda - contained a bitter kernel of truth. The realisation of how he had been used by Rogal Dorn was devastating for Guilliman. Dorn had played expertly on Ultramar's isolation from Terra and the misunderstanding with the Administratum for his own ends. Guilliman's trust in his brother had been used to make him complicit in the destruction of three loyal legions at Istvaan, and pushed him into choosing the wrong side of the uprising against the Emperor. Guilliman's hands were stained with his father's blood, and this realisation threw him into a bout of black depression and anguished self-reflection. This development concerned his men deeply, and when he emerged from isolation, he made two announcements. The first was the aching certainty that history had repeated itself. It had always been thought that Konor's death had been accidental, but in light of Dorn's plot to isolate Guilliman in his attempt to kill the Emperor and snatch power, Gallan's actions became far clearer. From sending him far away to Illyrium, to the speed with which he took control, it became obvious that the man who had adopted him had also been murdered. Under the glare of scrutiny, Guilliman's assertions were rapidly proved correct, and the name of Gallan and his line were cursed across the whole of Ultramar. Guilliman's second announcement was even more shocking. They must heal the rift between Ultramar Segmentum and the Imperium. Despite all the blood that had been spilled, they must reunite to overthrow Chaos, the Great Deceiver. Much to the consternation of his lieutenants, Guilliman opened up a détente with those who ruled in the Emperor's stead, and the world of Prandium was chosen as the place for what should have been a historic meeting. Instead, it was the site of a cowardly ambush under the flag of truce, and the last, best hope for peace between the realms was squandered. The Imperial delegation lulled them with warm words, and discussions between the two sides appeared to be progressing well, until the massed ranks of Imperial Astartes tore into their Ultramarine hosts without mercy. Guilliman was the target of their ire. In his final report as head of the primarch's honour guard, Kaisus described cutting through the press of bodies, only to see Fulgrim of the Emperor's Children strike his Lord Guilliman down from behind. The two were then obscured in a cloud of acrid fyceline smoke, and when it had cleared, both were gone. They had both been whisked away into orbit, and though the Ultramarines hounded the Imperial fleets all the way back to the border and beyond, they could not rescue their primarch. Only later did they find out the awful truth, that the Imperial forces had trapped Guilliman in a stasis field a moment from death as a special torture, and that he had been brought to Terra as some grisly spoil of war. This atrocity destroyed forever any chance of reconciliation between the realms. It was clear that the Imperium could never be trusted, and that it would not rest until every last Ultramar world and citizen was enslaved. From what they could glean from their covert agents and from refugees who fled across the border, the Imperium was trapped in a downward spiral of superstition, corruption, inefficiency and brutality. Without the Master of Mankind, the Imperium was slowly dying, but like any badly wounded beast it could still be lethal in its death throes. Ultramar Ascendant Beyond retaking worlds conquered by Imperial crusades and building up defences against the next assault, there was a wide consensus that the borders of Ultramar Segmentum should expand. The task of wresting systems from the dead hand of Imperial misrule was given primarily to newly founded successor chapters, who, like their primarch before them, carved out new territory to prove their prowess. Although the borders of Ultramar Segmentum have waxed and waned over the millennia, these aggressive young chapters have been the cause of a gradual expansion of the realm. Though it is but a fraction of the Imperium's size, Ultramar Segmentum continues to be ordered, productive and efficient, which enables it to support its vast military. It is also enlightened, tolerant and cultured, a far cry from the bigotry and closed-minded repression of the Imperium. This is why refugees take such risks to reach it, and the reason that populations fight so hard against being taken back into the corrupt and brutal Imperial fold. There have also been many calls down the millennia for Ultramar to undertake a crusade of its own. Not just to liberate border worlds, but to mount a strike deep into the rotten heart of the Imperium and stop the attacks once and for all. This is also motivated from a burning desire to storm the gates of Terra and finally reclaim the body of Guilliman from his stasis prison. They passionately call for his release, allowing him either to die with dignity, or to be healed, so that he might lead the reunification of the whole of humanity into a new era of enlightenment. The last of these calls came just over two centuries ago in 740.M41. A large number of new successor chapters had just been founded, and the Lord of Macragge, Marneus Calgar, seemed set to decree just such a crusade to rescue their primarch. This bold plan, though, was derailed by the arrival of the Tyranid Hive-mind from beyond the galactic fringe. These implacable aliens devoured everything in their path, stripping whole worlds to the bedrock in their hunger. This first hive-fleet, designated 'Behemoth', was only stopped by a segmentum-wide deployment of forces, and the sacrifice of the bulk of the Calth Battle-Fleet. Despite this, the Tyranids succeeded where the Imperium had failed so many times, by landing forces upon the surface of Macragge. Enemies and allies alike took advantage of the devastation, with Orks, the Imperium and even the previously friendly Tau encroaching into Ultramar space. This stopped calls for an attack on Terra in their tracks, and for a short while after the realm of Ultramar contracted. These events were shrilly proclaimed as being "judgements of the Emperor" by the Imperium's Ecclesiarchy, and these calls rose to fever pitch in the last decade with the emergence of a second Tyranid hive-fleet, code-named 'Kraken'. But Ultramar Segmentum does as it always does: it endures. Strengthened by the lessons learned in the struggle against the Tyranids, and infused by technology gleaned from their wars with the Tau, they will rise again, all the stronger for their trials. Legion Home World Ultramar Segmentum spans a vast swathe of the galactic east, and with each passing year it encroaches ever-further into the crumbling Imperium. Along with the technological benefits that membership of Ultramar brings, the legion also imports its culture and values and weaves them seamlessly into that of the original society. This means that while Ultramar Segmentum encompasses a vast array of different cultures, from the savage head-hunters of New Posul to the aeronauts in the floating cities of Doromus Minor, each one is tied, with great affection, back to Macragge. As befits the world where their Primarch, Roboute Guilliman, fell to earth as an infant, Macragge remains the heart of Ultramar Segmentum. The fortress-monastery still dominates the northlands of Illyrium, and from there the Legion Master rules with beneficence. Like every world in their culture, Macragge is home to a great many military academies, and through the halls of these hallowed institutions have passed countless generations of Astartes and segmentum guardsmen. The most venerated academy is the Agiselus Barracks in Macragge City, where Guilliman himself was trained. While Macragge houses the first and greatest of the Ultramarine chapters, many other planets such as Orpheus and Ulixis have the honour of hosting one from the original legion, or one of their many successors. Of the core Ultramar worlds, the frozen planet of Calth and the shrine-world of Prandium, where Guilliman fell in battle, have both housed chapter monasteries. Over the millennia, Calth has grown into an orbital shipyard second only to the segmentum Navy dockyards in Kar Dunaish. After Hive Fleet Behemoth came so close to devouring Macragge, a successor chapter, the Lamenters, was founded on Prandium. Sadly, both they, and another successor, the Scythes of Guilliman set to guard the outer rim, were completely destroyed in the Second Tyrannic War against Hive Fleet Kraken. Despite now being deep inside the borders of Ultramar Segmentum, Istvaan V has continued to be a frequent target for Imperial attacks. Though it has become a veritable fortress-world, it still holds a special attraction for forces headed by the Emperor's Children and World Eaters. Sadly, they seem unable to grasp that the Ultramarines were as much victims of Dorn's Great Betrayal as they were. Since the schism that tore humanity apart, the worlds along the border with the Imperium have been ringed with defence platforms and are under constant patrol by fleets of warships. It has been called a 'Curtain of Steel', and is certainly a formidable barrier, yet despite the Ultramar Navy's best efforts, raider forces still slip past them to prey upon the more settled worlds beyond. There are even wars within the segmentum's borders, from skirmishes against the Tau beyond the Damocles Gulf and the omnipresent threat of Ork infestations to the insidious rabble-rousing of the Alpha Legion and the minions of Chaos. Every Ultramarine and every successor know all-too well the threats that face the segmentum, but with courage and honour, they will endure. Notable Locations *'Hera's Crown Mountains' - Hera's Crown Mountains, sometimes referred to as the "Crown Mountains," is the mightiest range of mountains on Macragge, where the Ultramarines' formidable fortress-monastery, the Fortress of Hera, was constructed by the hand of Primarch Roboute Guilliman. *'Illyria' - During the Dornian Heresy era, this region of Macragge was known by the local inhabitants as 'bandit country'. It was also a known hotbed of anti-Konor, and later, anti-Imperial sentiment. *'Fortress of Hera' - The Fortress of Hera is the formidable fortress-monastery of the Ultramarines Space Marine Chapter. This mighty edifice is situated in the Valley of Laponis alongside the Hera's Fall. The Ultramarines' citadel is considered a wonder of engineering constructed by the hand of the Legion's own Primarch Roboute Guilliman during the bygone era of the Great Crusade. The Fortress of Hera contains graceful balconies, golden geodesic domes and slender glass walkways supported by silver-steel buttresses. The vast domed structures of the fortress are citadels in their own right. **'Gallan's Rock' - Gallan's Rock is a rocky promontory overlooking a waterfall in the Crown Mountains on Macragge, and is accessible from the Fortress of Hera. According to Ultramarines legend, the Rock was where Roboute Guilliman beheaded the rebellious Consul Gallan, who had murdered his co-Consul Konor, Roboute's adoptive father. The Ultramarines themselves use the Rock as a place of execution, for members of the Legion who have been condemned for serious crimes. **'Hall of Maxellus' - A vast hall within the Fortress of Hera that was crafted in honour of the fallen Maxellus, the twenty-first Legion Master of the Ultramarines, who was renowned for his wisdom. The Ultramarines later placed a statue of the famed Legion Master within the Hall, where his stern but benign face watches over all who enter. **'Library of Ptolemy' - The Library of Ptolemy is the Librarium of the Ultramarines Legion, located within the Fortress of Hera, occupying an entire spur of the range of the Crown Mountains. It is named for Ptolemy, the first and greatest Librarian of the ancient Ultramarines Legion. This Librarium is considered one of the greatest repositories of knowledge within the entirety of the Imperium of Man, and it has a reputation for completeness that even the Agrippan Conclaves or the Arcanium of Teleos cannot match. The Librarium is reputed to contain practically every word ever written across all of human history. Guarded by Ultramarines Astartes and auto-defences, at the heart of the Librarium is the Legion's greatest relic -- Roboute Guilliman's original manuscript of the Codex Ultramar. The Codex is transcribed into four massive volumes, each said to be one metre long and one-third of a metre thick. According to Chief Librarian Tigurius, the Arcanium is said to occupy the exact same remote spot where the Primarch, as a youth, would seek solace and solitude in order to reflect in silent contemplation and to study the great works of humanity. This fact is a carefully guarded secret, as the Chief Librarian does not want to attract millions of pilgrims to the Library of Ptolemy to spoil the peace of the refuge. **'Plaza of Attendance' - The Plaza of Attendance was one of the original landmarks that had survived over ten millennia of invasions and war. This landmark was a vast space like an inverted ziggurat stamped into the Fortress of Hera's rampart plateau. The walls had advanced from the plaza, leaving it some way from the edge where before it had stood at the brink of man-made cliffs. The side nearest the city, once open, was now walled with a faceless armoury. Through it all, the plaza still remained, an important place where Macragge's dignitaries and a contingent of an Astartes Honour Guard could greet an important guest with all the pomp and circumstance that Macragge could muster. **'Temple of Correction' - The Temple of Correction is a massive facility built deep within Macragge's northern polar defence fortress. Here, the Legion's and their Successor Chapters tithe samples to be tested for signs of genetic deficiences and catalogued and stored. The Temple of Correction is a massive vaulted sepulchre that forms a small part of the vast polar fortress. The temple is a miracle of construction and typical of the attention to detail to which the Ultramarines apply themselves. Its proportions defy the human mind by the scope and grandeur of its design. According to the Ultramarines there is enough marble within the temple to build a mountain, and sufficient adamantium and shining plasteel to construct a sizable Imperial warfleet. The fortress itself bears massive void shields, anti-air defence lasers and a large garrison for defence of the Legion's precious gene-stock. During those occasions when a company of the Ultramarines or one of their Successors must rebuild its strength due to an extended Crusade or sustain substantial losses, it is usually added to the garrison of the temple, so that it can add another layer to the Macragge's defences. **'Sword Hall' - The Sword Hall is located within the Fortress of Hera. It is a vast, expansive chamber that contains a precious Legion relic that harkens back to the earliest days of the Ultramarines. Suspended within a golden shaft of light, in the centre of the chamber, trapped in an anti-gravitic suspension field above the marble floor, is the legendary power sword of Roboute Guilliman. Legion Organisation The vast scale of Ultramar Segmentum necessitated that Guilliman break his legion into far more autonomous units. Instead of the grand companies, the chapters of the Ultramarines were created, with ten companies each of a hundred brothers. Each chapter was given stewardship over an area of space, and charged with ensuring its good governance and defence. New recruits come from amongst the local population to closer bind their fates together. Drawn from the most promising youths, usually from the military academies modelled upon the Macragge tradition, these potentials are sent to the Tenth, or Scout Company, where they are rigorously trained, tested and implanted with the organs necessary to forge them into full Astartes battle-brothers. From there they pass into one of the four reserve companies, where they are trained in the arts of war, from piloting a vehicle, providing heavy weapon support, close combat with bolt pistol and chainsword, or - the backbone of the chapter - in the bolter-armed Tactical squads. The Second to Fifth Companies are the main front-line fighting strength of the chapter. In line with the balanced approach laid down in the Codex, the ideal is for each of these battle companies to contain six Tactical squads, supported by two Devastator squads and two Assault squads. The chapter's First Company is composed of the veterans. Clad either in Terminator armour or power armour, these marines are tasked with the most deadly missions, and by their example inspire all those around them to great feats of heroism. Although a chapter of the Ultramarines is composed of only a nominal thousand Astartes warriors, these are only the tip of the spear. The chapter master is in effect the military governor of every world in his domain, and so also commands every Ultramar guardsman, Navy ship and auxilia, and when the Ultramarines go to war, so too do they. Command Hierarchy The XIIIth Legion operates under a strict hierarchy where each warrior's responsibilities and duties were known at all times. Roboute Guilliman had overall command of the Legion, a position that has been assumed by the Legion Master, deciding its disposition and strategic objective, as well as taking command of whichever fleet or war zone the Legion Master is present in. Beneath the Legion Master are the chapter masters, each of whom lead approximately 1,000 warriors and a contingent of Ultramar's void fleet. Assisting them are the cadre of senior officers and commanders, the Legatii. Each chapter of the Legion contains ten companies each in turn of 1,000 Astartes commanded by a captain, who is responsible for the tactical deployment, efficiency and training of his warriors. While the captains and chapter masters of the XIIIth Legion govern the armies of the Legion, it is the parallel system of trenches and their own legatii who govern the many military institutions of the Ultramar Segmentum and are entrusted with its defence. Each Tetrarch is a military dictator of one of the five "king worlds" of Ultramar, and rules over a sub-sector of that realm. The tetrarchs are appointed by the Legion Master, who is himself Master of Macragge and the core worlds of Ultramar -- though his duties as governor of these worlds often falls on his Seneschal in practice, while he leads the armies of Ultramar on crusade. Tetrarch Council *'Marneus Augustus Calgar' - Master of Macragge, Legion Master of the XIIIth Legion and Lord of Ultramar Segmentum. *'Severus Agemman' - Captain of the 1st Company, Tetrarch of Konor. *'Cato Sicarius' - Captain of the 2nd Company, Grand Duke of Talassar, Tetrarch of Saramanth. *'Portan' - Captain of the Genesis Chapter's 2nd Company, Tetrarch of Andermung. *'Balthus' - Captain of the Doom Eagles Chapter, Tetrarch of Protos. *'Decimus Falx' - Captain of the 10th Company, Tetrarch of Vespastor. Ultramarines Successor Chapters The concept of successor chapters was born out of Guilliman's early years on Macragge. After he had proved himself, he was sent out into the wilderlands and given the chance to carve out a domain of his own. The same opportunity has been given to Ultramarine heroes down the millennia, and hundreds of new chapters have been founded, split off from the greater legion and sent out to garrison the wild border areas of Ultramar Segmentum. The marines that strike out on their own do so for a variety of reasons. Some, such as the Sons of Guilliman and White Consuls, were founded by marines eager to challenge themselves, and to emulate Guilliman. Others, such as the death-cult worshipping Mortifactors did so to gain greater autonomy and acceptance of their views. Though these successors wear different heraldry and battle-colours from the Ultramarines, and may deviate, sometimes wildly, from the norms of Guilliman's great Codex, all are unified in their support for the ideals of Ultramar Segmentum. The Librarium Coordination of a realm as large as Ultramar Segmentum is a monumental task, but it is one to which the rigidly organised sons of Guilliman are equal, and none are more vital to this than those of the chapter's Librarium. With no access to the 'soul-binding' ritual required to produce Astropaths, only the powerful Astartes psykers of the Librarium have the ability and resilience to the Warp to communicate across the length and breadth of the segmentum. Strong psykers are particularly valued in Ultramar, and the danger of 'wild' or even weak psykers is well known. Most are weeded out, but some still lurk on the fringes of society. It is the responsibility of the librarians to sniff out the spoor of these misguided fools, as whole cities have been lost to daemonic incursion because of the unguarded mind of a single rogue psyker. Specialist Formations Alongside the conventional order of battle with which the Ultramarines operate, several unique formations stand wholly apart from the traditional structure: *'Evocatii' - The earliest of these non-standard formations to emerge were the Evocatii chapters, first introduced by Lord Commander Vosotho and later reorganised, expanded and renamed by Roboute Guilliman. The Evocati is the training ground of the Legion; comprising two double-strength chapters composed of both raw recruits from across Ultramar and beyond, as well as a core of war-hardened veterans. Where the late Lord Commander had once blooded these Neophyte warriors at the forefront of his campaigns, Guilliman assigned them first a tour of defensive operations within the borders of Ultramar in conclusion to a rigorous training regime which favoured both practical battle experience and more rigorous and more lengthy cerebral conditioning and memetic implantation than most other Legions undertook. *'Suzerain Invictarus' - The most famed and potent of the XIIIth Legion's elite sub-formations are the Suzerain Invictarus. Known also as the Invictarii, this is a veteran cadre that serves both as a Legion elite and as a pool of warriors who through their actions have singled themselves out for potential future high command, not simply by bravery or skill at arms, but also for displaying a talent in governance, organisation and administration. Their ranks form the core outside the usual Legion structure devoted in no small part to the control and order of the Ultramarines writ of domain, and increased in number as the Legion itself expanded and the realm of Ultramar with it. The Invictarii form the retinues of the five Tetrarchs of Ultramar, and functions as both military force for the defence of that fiefdom, arbiters of law for the population and an Honour Guard for their commander in battle. The individual forces of these Suzerain Invictarus varies in size, with Tetrarch Agemman maintains a force of several thousand as feared peacekeepers in the worlds around Konor, while other Tetrarchs might have but one hundred in their guard, partly in defence to the Mechanicum warriors who stand in their governed world's defence and do not need aid in doing so. Outside of the Suzerain forces, members of the Invictarii can also be found in limited numbers spread through the Legion's veteran units and various sub-stratas of command (although by number only a fraction of all veterans, officers or sergeants ranked amongst them) gaining further battlefield experience and honing their skills by field command. *'Tyrannic War Veterans' - During the first incursion of the Tyranid Hive Fleets, the Ultramarines were constantly engaged with the extragalactic menace. The invasion of Hive Fleet Behemoth was halted at Macragge, in a series of battles that completely wiped out several companies. Veterans of Tyranid conflicts are often grouped into elite units of Tyrannic War Veterans, also known as Tyranid Hunters. These units are specially trained to effectively fight this particular xenos menace. *'Fulmentarus Terminator Strike Squad' - Created by Roboute Guilliman after observing the Iron Warriors' Tyrant Siege Terminator squads in battle, the Primarch judged the tactic worthy of refinement. He immediately ordered the creation of a number of similar units in his own Legion so that he might study and improve upon Perturabo's innovation, proving himself once again the master of all of the myriad disciplines of war. The warriors of the Fulmentarus are equipped with relic Cataphractii Pattern Terminator Armour, enhanced to carry an array of targeting systems that makes it possible for each to combine their fire in a highly coordinated fashion. When combined with a heavy weapons system such as a Reaper Autocannon, or the Cyclone Missile Launcher first utilised by the Tyrant Siege Terminators, these sensors make the Fulmentarus a fearsome heavy assault unit and one that, were it not for the outbreak of the Dornian Heresy, might one day have entered service across the Legiones Astartes. *'Locutarus Storm Squad' - The Locutarus Storm Squads are elite units maintained in small number by the majority of Successor Chapters of the Ultramarines Legion, and deploys particularly in vanguard and strike formations. Each warrior of the Locutarus have been selected from the line assault squads having proven themselves the most skilled, courageous and ferocious of their brethren. Where the assault units of many other Legions are known for their savagery or even their outright bloodthirstiness, the Locutarus are universally iron disciplined and exacting of mien. They practice the arts of sword and pistol play with precision, their strikes perfectly timed and placed to maximum effect. In battle, Locutarus Storm Squads are often held in reserves, their commanders waiting until the perfect moment to commit them to the battle, unleashed in one single charge to tip the outcome in favour of the Ultramarines. The Locutarus are superbly equipped to fulfil this role, each bearing an artificer wrought power sword which serves as a mark of honour and courage as much as a lethal tool of war. *'Vigil Operatii' - Though rarely spoken of, there existed another agency of the XIIIth Legion at work within the borders of Ultramar. The Vigil Operatii, an organisation whose roots stretch back to the early days of Ultramar's founding, operats as a shadow arm of the military government of Ultramar, silencing those threats uncovered within the Five Hundred Worlds and holding custodianship over the various defence militias of its standing human armies. Little is recorded of their internal organisation, save that the warriors who make up their forces are at their core a body of augmented humans -- those aspirants whose minor deficiencies of mind or body barred them from joining the ranks of the XIIIth Legion, but not from service. This organisation reports to the Invictarus and goes where a superhuman Legiones Astartes cannot go covertly or easily, and in its manner might have been patterned at least in some part on the similar operatives of certain other Legions of more insidious mien, although with an assuredly ironclad code of conduct set for their operations. Legion Gene-Seed As befits the legacy of Roboute Guilliman, each of the nineteen gene-seed implants operate at the same outstanding level of efficiency they did when they were first created. Untouched by the corrupting nature of the Ruinous Powers, and free of the superstitious ritual of the Adeptus Mechanicus, their gene-seed is undoubtedly the purest of all the Legiones Astartes. Their optimised methods of implant culturing and aspirant selection minimises rejection and ensures that the Ultramarines can replace losses and produce new marines at an astonishing rate. To ensure that the high quality of Ultramarine gene-seed is maintained, each of the legion's chapters regularly tithe samples to a facility deep beneath Macragge's northern polar defence fortress. There it is tested for any sign of deviation or genetic drift, catalogued and stored. This process has been invaluable in replenishing the gene-stocks of chapters that have suffered catastrophic losses, and during the founding of new successor chapters to expand the borders of Ultramar Segmentum. Legion Combat Doctrine The master of organisation and strategy, Roboute Guilliman laid down the blueprints for these teachings in his Codex Ultramar. It is a comprehensive tome, covering not just military and Astartes organisation, but also vital civilian aspects of governance and trade. The Codex emphasises a balanced, combined-arms approach to warfare, but is also flexible enough to recognise that there are times, such as when Guilliman defeated Alpharius, when a more extreme approach is required. He encouraged additions by later commanders to allow for the arrival of new enemies or developments in things such as tactics or weaponry. Each of the legion's chapters and successors has their own copy of the Codex, each with different changes and additions to reflect their own circumstances and experiences. The original, unamended version, written in Guilliman's own hand, is stored in the deepest vaults of the fortress-monastery on Macragge, and is, like its author, preserved in temporal stasis. This incalculably valuable relic is retrieved only for the inauguration of a new chapter master. By placing his right hand on the fragile book, he signifies his intention to rule according to his primarch's tenets and wishes. The most important examples of changes to the Macragge Chapter‟s annotated Codex in the last millennia are those concerning the best uses of heavy rail-gun technology, and the extensive tactics built up to combat the extra-galactic menace of the Tyranids. Before any additions to the Codex are allowed by the chapter's librarians, the prospective author must be able to recite, and show a thorough understanding of, Guilliman's original text. In this way their primarch's philosophy and intentions for the Codex have been protected down the millennia. Legion Beliefs Above all things the legion venerates Guilliman and his teachings, and the realm of Ultramar Segmentum that they have created together. They believe that it is their manifest destiny to extend the boundaries of Ultramar Segmentum so that one day it will encompass all the worlds of humanity. The misguided, corrupt Imperium will inevitably fall and they will subsume it, be it by slow expansion or a single strike against Terra to topple the regime once and for all. They see the Emperor as one of the greatest men who ever lived, and the father of their primarch. However, despite the proclamations of the Ecclesiarchy, they know that the Emperor is long dead, and have no respect for the incompetent thugs that rule in His name. For all of this, their attitude towards the Imperium is one of distaste and pity rather than hatred. Their true loathing is reserved for the servants of the Chaos Gods, and especially the Traitor Astartes, who have given up all semblance of humanity. Only once they have the full resources of mankind, though, will they finally be able to extinguish the Ruinous Powers from the galaxy. Legion Fleet In contrast to the vast numbers of Space Marines in the Ultramarines Legion, the naval assets of Ultramar are more limited. Historically, Roboute Guilliman had made a virtue of close alliance with the Imperialis Armada fleets of the Ultramar Segmentum, and relied upon them closely when a particular campaign called for a powerful capital ship contingent to be employed or extensive orbital bombardments to be undertaken. The Primarch himself was known to have been observed in spheres of combat other than the impersonal long range clash of star ships many kilometres apart in the deep void, and greatly favoured his own Legion fleet to be optimised for close assault and maintained ships designed for invasion operations for this reason. As a result, the Legion has never operated large numbers of the heaviest capital ships, retaining less than 30-35 of such craft at various points, having lost several in battle over time, notably the Legion's flagship among them during the disaster at the Osiris Cluster. Of those heavy capital ships which remains, most have served since the Legion's inception at the beginning of the Great Crusade and have been heavily refitted over time. Only a handful of the newer models of heavy capital ships had been assigned them since the Primarch Roboute Guilliman's command tenure had begun, although of these notably two are of the extremely powerful Gloriana class. The main body of the Legion's void craft fleet is made up of mid-scaled cruisers and smaller Battle Barges of various classes, along with substantial numbers of lighter pattern purpose-built Strike Cruisers, frigates and fast patrol cutters, all which can be produced by the shipyards of worlds across Ultramar. Although this fleet structure does allow the Legion a great deal of flexibility and range in how it deploys its many Space Marine chapters, its combined overall tonnage and firepower ranks the Ultramarines fleet in the mid-tier of the Legions, behind the Death Guard in terms of number of heavy capital units, for example. *''Macragge's Honour'' (Gloriana-class Battleship) - Flagship of the XIIIth Legion. *''Sethaln's Thunder'' (Goliath-class Macro Battleship) - First flagship of the XIIIth Legion and the 12th Expeditionary Fleet at the beginning of the Great Crusade, in these distant days when the Legion was still under command of Legion Master Gren Vosotho. The Sethaln's Thunder was destroyed by the previously unknown xenos species of the Osiran Psybirds during the Osiris Rebellion and the disastrous Attack on Septus XII. *''Glorious Nova'' (Capital Ship, Unknown Class) - Flagship of Captain Lucretius Corvo and the 90th 'Nova' Company during the Dornian Heresy. *Ultimus Mundi (Battleship)' *Suspiria Majestrix'' (Grand Cruiser) *''Aegis of Occluda'' (Unknown Class) *''Battle King'' (Unknown Class) *''Cavascor'' (Unknown Class) *''Cornucopia'' (Unknown Class) *''Chronicle'' (Unknown Class) *''Glory of Fire'' (Unknown Class) *''High Assent'' (Unknown Class) *''Legendary Son'' (Unknown Class) *''Lutine'' (Unknown Class) *''Mlatus'' (Unknown Class) *''Nova Warrior'' (Unknown Class) *''Praetorian Trust'' (Unknown Class) *''Samothrace'' (Unknown Class) *''Solonim Woe'' (Unknown Class) *''Triumph of Espandor'' (Unknown Class) *''Triumph of Iax'' (Unknown Class) *''Unbroken Vigil'' (Unknown Class) *''Vernax Absolom'' (Unknown Class) *''Adsidus'' (Battle Barge) *''Aeternus'' (Battle Barge) *''Caesar'' (Battle Barge) *''Emperor Incarnatus'' (Battle Barge) *''Faith's Pyre'' (Battle Barge) *''Gauntlet of Glory'' (Battle Barge) *''Gauntlet of Power'' (Battle Barge) *''Gauntlet of Victory'' (Battle Barge) *''Honour's Fist'' (Battle Barge) *''Icon of Faith'' (Battle Barge) *''Imperator Rexelius'' (Battle Barge) *''Infernus Iconus'' (Battle Barge) *''Lord Laomedon'' (Battle Barge) *''Phaunos'' (Battle Barge) *''Pro Merito '' (Battle Barge) *''Octavius'' (Battle Barge) *''Seditio Opprimere'' (Battle Barge) *''Severian'' (Battle Barge) *''Accipiter'' (Strike Cruiser) *''Fidelis'' (Strike Cruiser) *''Garra de Macragge'' [Macragge's Claw] (Strike Cruiser) *''Internecio'' (Strike Cruiser) *''Iter Splendere'' (Strike Cruiser) *''Vae Victus'' (Strike Cruiser) *''Valin's Revenge'' (Strike Cruiser) *''Probity'' (Venom-class Destroyer) *''Testament of Andromeda'' (Carrier) *''Mlekrus'' (Strike Craft) Legion Appearance Legion Colours The Ultramarines typically paint their power armour and vehicles a medium (Ultramarine) blue. In accordance to the precepts of the Codex Ultramar the colour of their shoulder pauldron trim varies depending on the company the Space Marine belongs to, with the 1st Company being trimmed in white, the 2nd Company trimmed in gold, etc. Legion Badge The Ultramarines Legion badge is a large, white Omega letter drawn from the ancient Grecian alphabet, representing the concept of ultimate perfection, centred on a field of medium blue. Trivia This article was originally authored by Aurelius Rex over on the Bolter & Chainsword forums. All rights are reserved to him. Gallery Category:U Category:First Founding Category:Space Marine Legions Category:Traitors